Journal · 29 September 2025
How to look after crystals and beads
Most of what shortens the life of a stone or a bead is ordinary: perfume, hairspray, kitchen cleaners, and being dropped into a bag with keys. Very little of it is dramatic. This is the short version of how to keep a piece looking the way it did when it arrived.
The general rule
Keep it dry, keep it away from anything with alcohol or solvent in it, and wipe it with a soft dry cloth when it looks dull. That covers almost everything we sell.
Put jewellery on last, after perfume and moisturiser have dried, and take it off first. That one habit does more than any cleaning method.
Stones that must not get wet
This matters more than people expect, and it is the part worth reading twice.
- Selenite is a soft gypsum. Water will dissolve the surface and it will never come back.
- Malachite is a copper carbonate. Prolonged water contact damages the polish and the dust is not something to breathe.
- Pyrite is an iron sulphide. Wet it repeatedly and it rusts and crumbles.
- Rudraksha and karungali are seed and wood. They can be wiped, but soaking swells and cracks them.
If you are unsure what a piece is made of, do not soak it. A dry cloth is never the wrong answer.
What about salt?
Dry salt is often suggested. It is abrasive, and on a softer or polished stone it will scratch the surface. If you want to use it, keep the stone on a cloth above the salt rather than buried in it.
Storing things
Separately, and softly. Quartz will scratch most things it is stored next to. A cloth pouch each, or compartments, is enough — the point is that pieces are not rubbing against one another in a drawer.
Restringing
Malas and stretch bracelets are strung on cord, and cord wears. If the thread between the beads is fraying or the stretch has gone slack, have it restrung before it breaks and the beads scatter. It is a small job and much easier than finding 108 beads under furniture.
A note on what we are not saying
You will find a great deal written about cleansing and charging, some of it very confident. We are not going to tell you what a stone will do for you, or what it needs in order to do it. What we can tell you is what these materials are, how they are made, and what physically damages them — and that is what this page is for.